There is no doubt in my mind that Chris Angel is a good if not great magician. I will also admit that I do watch his show from time to time because I think it serves the non-magician public as good entertainment, and mostly to watch my friends squirm and scream “How did he do that!” as they turn to me like I‘m actually gonna answer them. I also believe that in many ways he makes it cool again to be a magician. With that being said... its unfortunate to see him use or rather misuse camera angles, staged locations, and obvious gaffed participants to enhance his magic to a phenomenal level. Please don’t get me wrong, I am not a "hater", long before he was even popular I credited him for being a good magician cuz I have seen his raw and off the cuff close-up material. I just think that there is a diffrence between magic and out right misleading. Now of course one would argue that magic is supposed to be misleading, even Houdini himself utilized a stooge or two, but sometimes using too many shortcuts can cut your magic short, especially your audience. Magical malpractice is becoming a very scary trend amongst television and even youtube magicians. As magicians we need to unite and sustain our credibility, for without it, we’re just another bad clown act at a kids birthday party. The two questions I would like all magicians (who use the television medium to elevate there career or reach there audience) to ask themselves is "How far will you bend the rules of magic to pull off the greatest magic trick? and what price will your audience pay because of it?"

With great respect for my fellow magicians,
Jules

BTW I hope I'm not violating any forum policies. My sincere apologies if I am. I'm new to the forums and I dont know how much outside public traffic these get.

Last edited by capNcuffs on Mon Sep 25, 2006 5:02 am, edited 1 time in total.

If people are still interested in learning this effect, a version of it is now being marketed by Magic Depot under the name "Scarabaeus".

Not the one CA used tho. I'm too freakin tired of telling the real explanation of his sleeving

I said a version of the effect is for sale, I never said it was the same method Criss Angel used.

Btw, if you think that the fact he sleeved it eliminates all possibility of there being more to the trick than that, perhaps you need to spend more time reading some of the classics.

I don't know how he did it or how the scarabeus works, but it's stupid to claim camera tricks when many people can think of a variety of methods to do this that do not require camera tricks. In all likelyhood the scarabaeus gimmick will also require you to temporarily sleeve things, or otherwise ditch them. But this does not mean the trick is over at that point, it just means you need to get it out of the way before doing the dirty work with it.

The problem with you guys is you are all hung up on magic methods. Angel and his team aren't making magic shows. They are making a TELEVISION show. They do whatever is quickest and cheapest to get the segment on tape. That's all that matters in television production.

You can argue all you want about ways to re-create the effects you see on Mindfreak in the real world. But Angel isn't performing in the real world and what is done to produce a good looking segment for his show and what a magician can do in reality are two very different things.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot post attachments in this forum